DERRY CITY Reserves and Cockhill Celtic played out an entertaining draw at the Brandywell before a healthy attendance.
Derry City Reserves 1 Cockhill Celtic 1
Cockhill started the game on the front foot and the new look strike force of Adam Duffy, Stephen Duffy and Cathal Farren looking very bright in the early exchanges.
It was Adam Duffy who opened the scoring on ten minutes when the Derry defence failed to clear from a set piece and Duffy made no mistake firing past Gartside from eight yards out.
This did spark Derry into life and they had a large share of possession for the remainder of the half.
They got their reward on the half-hour mark when Aidy Delap dispatched a volley to the net after a Gavin Cullen punch fell nicely to him at the back post.
The second half was a very cagey affair with the majority of the chances for both sides coming from set pieces, Lee McColgan with a couple of efforts but Gartside dealt with them comfortably.
Derry did have a fantastic chance to win it in the dying minutes after Delap weaved his way down the left and cut it back to the young substitute Michael Harris, who couldn’t keep his shot down and it blazed over Cullen’s bar with the goal gaping.
Overall, a fair enough result and a good advert for what’s to come this season, a young Derry with a mix of senior experience through it and a new-look Cockhill side who’ll be happy to get a very tough ninety minutes under their belts in the expansive Brandywell.
Derry City Reserves: Nathan Gartside, Jack Parke, Matty Walker, Mark McChrystal, Adam Taggart, Brendan Barr, Jack O’Donnell, Jack Malone, Jack Coyle, Mark McFadden, Aidy Delap.
Cockhill Celtic: Gavin Cullen, Christopher Duffy, Lee McColgan, Oisin McColgan, Jason Breslin, Ronan Doherty, Jimmy Bradley, Laurence Toland, Adam Duffy, Cathal Farren, Stephen Duffy/
Referee: Michael Connolly.
